[FoxPhile]

Topping this for rewatch discussion...

[LWS53]

Will watch this one day this week and come back and comment. I remember I loved this episode when I first saw it and especially liked the exchanges between Peter and Olivia. And who can forget Row, Row, Row, your boat.

[LWS53]

I just rewatched this episode last night and have come to talk about it while it is fresh in my mind. As only the second episode things were still settling down as to who was who in the story. Seeing it in retrospect it was quite obvious they were using Nina to remind everyone who was who and using her as devil's advocate to Broyles reveal of his new team. Broyles was a lot more sympathetic and rounded in this episode than the pilot and Olivia showed her dedication to the job she was at first reluctant to take.

It also showed that no matter how reluctant Peter is to be there he is a vital and productive part of the team and not just as Walter's interpreter and minder.

Even though it was just the second episode the banter and connections between these characters is there already. Gene being milked, Astrid reminding Walter who she was, Walter and Peter finding the old car and making it work as well as the old lab notes they found.

Peter and Walter working as a team to bring the girl back to life was a great scene and Peter showing he wasn't going to sit back and let Olivia go into danger alone and showing his sense of adventure showed that he was a vital member of the team.

Showing The Observer in the hospital was also a good way of introducing the character. I didn't notice the clue to the next episode but I was too busy looking at eyeballs and eye-candy to notice. The motel looked the same as the one John and Olivia used in The Pilot but it is unlikely, as this was filmed in New York and The Pilot in Toronto - unless they used archive footage.

[FoxPhile]

Rewatching this now, and I certainly agree with everything you've said, Leslie.

With the exception of a few more-or-less "Monster of the Week" episodes, Fringe turned out to be basically one, long, continuous story. And again, kudos to the writers on how they pulled that off for five years. Rewatching this episode it's clear how much of that is being set up. The idea that Walter's work went beyond the bizarre and into the just plain wrong. That he was working, at least in part, for the US Military. Also a great deal more is established of Peter's character. He may have made his living perpetrating fraud of all kinds, but his intelligence and his science skills are legit. We also have the beginnings of a deep animosity between Nina and the Bishop Boys; although it's not immediately clear why she misses no opportunity to point out their faults.

Loved Peter contriving a defibrilator out of spare parts and telephone books!

The foreshadowing in this episode is intense - once you've seen the full series. We see an instance of a "father" doing unspeakable things to save the "son" that he loves. And Walter's speech on the difficulty scientists have not imagining themselves as gods.

And there is more subtle foreshadowing - when Peter approaches Olivia on the park bench, there is a father and son playing with a boat by a lake. Again, now that I've seen the full series, that picture is very evocative of what is to come and what will be revealed.

[LWS53]

I am not sure about Nina. I think they hadn't known what to do with Nina at this point but you would think that Nina would want Walter to take up the gauntlet as it were when other people were doing things with his work, but perhaps she thought that somehow his input would undermine Williams work. I never quite got who the pattern scientists were working for, who William Bell was working for but suspect he was playing both sides against the other to make a name for himself and things got out of hand.

They all talked about pandora's box throughout the series and not being able to put the genie back in the bottle so I suppose a lot of the earlier experiments and events were just the aftermath of that.

We will have to look closely at that aspect of the story as the episodes go on and see how much the story changes rather than evolves. A lot of easter eggs were introduced in the early part of the first season but some were dropped and some seem to have been changed.

[JJH85]

So I went to watch this today and for some reason I fell asleep after the first 10 minutes. Now I have to watch it again.

My plan for this week to week watch is to try and pick out any background stuff and hidden clues in each episode; whether it be find the Observer in the scene or perhaps a glyph that I may not have noticed in previous watches. And of course just enjoy the show.

[LWS53]

Originally Posted by JJH85 (View Post) So I went to watch this today and for some reason I fell asleep after the first 10 minutes. Now I have to watch it again. My plan for this week to week watch is to try and pick out any background stuff and hidden clues in each episode; whether it be find the Observer in the scene or perhaps a glyph that I may not have noticed in previous watches. And of course just enjoy the show.

I thought that but got so wrapped up in the story that I forgot to look at the background stuff, except the Observer who was very apparent in one particular scene.

I may have to watch again with that in mind.

[JJH85]

Originally Posted by LWS53 (View Post) I thought that but got so wrapped up in the story that I forgot to look at the background stuff, except the Observer who was very apparent in one particular scene. I may have to watch again with that in mind.

I just did the same thing.

I re-watched it because I had fallen asleep the first time I watched for this round. Now I'm off to read 1.03.

After watching this, I can't believe it took me until later in the season to fall in love with Peter. They way he so easily deciphers Walter's babble and how he interacts with Olivia and then sings to Walter at the end, he just makes you melt.

And Walter is so endearing in these scenes.

I was always curious about why Nina Sharp was brought in so early in the dicussions about the Pattern, as it seems so out of place given her reluctance to help in future episodes in S1, but maybe it has to do with the fact that she was not totally on board with the team that Broyles put together. Speaking of Broyles, I loved his and Walter's first meeting and his and Peter's first meeting as well.

[LWS53]

Originally Posted by JJH85 (View Post) I just did the same thing. I re-watched it because I had fallen asleep the first time I watched for this round. Now I'm off to read 1.03. After watching this, I can't believe it took me until later in the season to fall in love with Peter. They way he so easily deciphers Walter's babble and how he interacts with Olivia and then sings to Walter at the end, he just makes you melt. And Walter is so endearing in these scenes. I was always curious about why Nina Sharp was brought in so early in the dicussions about the Pattern, as it seems so out of place given her reluctance to help in future episodes in S1, but maybe it has to do with the fact that she was not totally on board with the team that Broyles put together. Speaking of Broyles, I loved his and Walter's first meeting and his and Peter's first meeting as well.

Well Nina knowing the history of the Bishop's she must have been worried that when Peter found out who he was, there would be a reckoning. Perhaps she thought that if Peter remained a Nomad and living under the radar his real father wouldn't be able to find him, but working in the Fringe division he was an easy target.

Whether she and Bell were actually in touch or if she was doing what she had been instructed to do before Bell became incommunicado, or was just going by instinct might have had something to do with her reluctance.

[Alexa]

Hello again, I am here to watch another episode. Had some free time and am happy to continue this rewatch. Will finish a few other things before I can get this show back fully into the schedule but hopefully this summer I'll have more time to watch! Thanks for the welcome in thread 101 btw!


102:

The intro to this episode was so ridiculously gross.

The show is a bit over the top but well, it's Fringe. haha. Overall, I really enjoyed this episode! I liked the case a lot and I feel like all the characters were coming into their own a lot more. The trio of Olivia/Walter/Peter just works so well, they are all so awesome. I also like the small role for Astrid right now.

Loved the mention of Peter's "condition" and his birthday and the then the vision... very interesting.

I read through the old comments after I finished and I agree that I felt this episode was stronger than the pilot.

[Ropetuned]

I’m glad you enjoyed it!

This show does get gross at times, just a warning

One of my biggest complaints was always that Astrid was so under utilized and most of the time was just a baby sitter for Walter

[FoxPhile]

I didn't find this episode all that bad from a gross standpoint, but then tolerance levels differ.

I did like the evolution of the characters. Although Peter tries to maintain a gruff, selfish persona, he exhibits a very caring heart in several ways. Similarly. although Walter was initially presented as being too daffy to be of any use, he is truly brilliant when he needs to be. We also see that Olivia can be vulnerable and scared underneath the tough FBI Agent façade.

The father/son dynamic is really at the forefront here. Of course, there are the parallels between Walter/Peter and Penrose/Christopher. Rewatching this points out the fact that both fathers were willing to do the unthinkable to save their sons. There's also the more subtle tableau when Olivia is in the park and she notices the father and his young son with the model sailboat. Certainly the episode lays the foundation for the importance of the relationship between Peter and Walter and how that relationship with develop over time.

I found the idea of one's final vision being imprinted on the retina at death to be really intriguing. If that were true, and if it were possible to capture that image, I can envision a time when collecting that image from a loved one and having it made into a print for display becomes a odd means of remembrance. Much like some people keep a lock of a loved one's hair or have their pets stuffed.

[Ropetuned]

All great points!

For being such a sci-fi centric show I like the family moments the most

[FoxPhile]

Originally Posted by Ropetuned (View Post) All great points! For being such a sci-fi centric show I like the family moments the most

Absolutely.

Science Fiction is a genre that really needs well developed characters and relationships. Otherwise it tends to be all about the technology and the special effects. While those are fascinating, they rarely hold your interest over time without some good underlying human story-telling.